SINGAPORE, Dec 28 (Reuters) - An Indian gangrape victim
whose assault in New Delhi triggered nationwide protests earlier
this month has suffered "significant brain injury" and is
surviving against the odds, the Singapore hospital treating her
said on Friday.

The 23-year-old medical student, who was severely beaten,
raped for almost an hour and thrown out of a moving bus in New
Delhi, was airlifted to Singapore on Dec. 26 for specialist
treatment.

"The patient is currently struggling against the odds,
and fighting for her life," Mount Elizabeth Hospital Chief
Executive Officer Kelvin Loh said in a statement.

"Our medical team's investigations upon her arrival at the
hospital yesterday showed that in addition to her prior cardiac
arrest, she also had infection of her lungs and abdomen as well
as significant brain injury."

The victim had already undergone three abdominal operations
before arriving in Singapore where her condition on Thursday was
described as "extremely critical".

Demonstrations over the lack of safety for women erupted
across India after the Dec. 16 attack on the unnamed victim,
culminating last weekend in pitched battles between police and
protesters in the heart of the capital.

Should the woman die, it could trigger fresh outrage
over the case, which caught Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's
government off-guard and triggered a blame game between
politicians and the police.

"We share the anguish and anger with the country over this
heinous crime," Singh told reporters on Friday. "Our prayers are
with the brave young girl and best possible medical care is
being provided to her."

New Delhi has the highest number of sex crimes among
India's major cities, with a rape reported on average every 18
hours, according to police figures. Government data show the
number of reported rape cases in the country rose by nearly 17
percent between 2007 and 2011.

(Reporting by Kevin Lim in Singapore and Satarupa Bhattacharjya
in New Delhi; Editing by Nick Macfie)